Mobile Marketing – 2 Apps Worth Testing

Been a Blackberry user now for about 2 years.  The transition from my trust Palm device wasn’t easy, but it was inevitable.  My eyes are on the iPhone as my wife enjoys it’s cousin, the iTouch, for about 8 months.  Until then, I’m making the most of my Blackberry, and things just got better.  This weekend, I downloaded the latest Facebook application, and based on what Christina Warren just shared about a Google Mail Plugin, I’m downloading that one as I write this.

Mobile Marketing – 2 Apps Worth Testing

With social networking taking the stage it’s not just about having the right message, but it’s more about having the right message at the right time.  Sometimes the right time is also an inconvenient time, which is where mobile marketing comes in.  Access to your Twitter, Facebook, and other online accounts via cell phone, or smartphone, is possible, and just got a bit easier.  For Blackberry users, this just got easier.

Facebook App for Blackberry

I was running some old version (1.2?), and this one is night and day different.  After downloading it directly from my phone, it installed and rebooted the phone without issues.

Some of my quick observations of Facebook for Blackberry:

• It slides different Facebook views (status, notifications, inbox, etc.) across your screen (kinda reminds me of my wife’s iTouch)
• It offers greater ties to the Blackberry Message (notifications) feature as well as
• A hook into the contacts application storing Facebook friend information on your local device (including profile pictures).

Here’s the rundown of Facebook for Blackberry features as seen on the Blackberry site (I called out a couple I found particularly interesting):

• NEW! View your friends’ highlights like status updates, photo uploads, comments and wall posts.
• NEW! Check out your friends’ profiles with access to status updates, wall posts, friends and recently added pictures.
• NEW! Open recently added photos or entire albums, or tag photos of friends. You can even comment on pictures.
• Receive instant notifications on your BlackBerry smartphone’s home screen.
• Send/receive messages or wall posts, pokes and friend requests.
• Update your status and view and comment on your friends’ status.
• Share photos from your BlackBerry smartphone with tags/comments and post to Facebook® with just one click.
• Connect your Facebook friends with your BlackBerry Address Book—including profile picture integration to bring new meaning to caller ID.
• Stay organized with birthday reminders and event integration into your BlackBerry Calendar.

Get access to it from your Blackberry device at www.blackberry.com/facebook or have  a look here for more details.

Gmail on the Blackberry Get’s Enhanced

Not sure what it is about Gmail that is so likeable, but Google has captured a large user base.  With social ties to Google Friend Connect, Google Talk, Google Reader, and  other social ties (YouTube), it is slowly becoming a social application.

How to make Gmail a mobile app – for us Blackberry users?

After reading Christina Warren’s writeup at Mashable I’m going to test the new and improved Gmail support on the Blackberry.  From the article, once you have it setup properly it allows you to:

• Star and label messages
• Mark messages as spam
• Perform local or remote searches
• Threaded view

Sounds promising.

UPDATE: My phone doesn’t have the supported Blackberry operating system required to install the software.  So either I upgrade my phone, or move to an iPhone.  What would you do?

In either case, mobile marketing gives marketers the option for more timely social interactions, and timing can make all the difference. If industry news comes out, your friends and followers may want to know your take right away as a trusted expert. Now there are less excuses for not giving it to them (even when you are out of the office).

Chime In: What mobile applications are you using?  Is Blackberry too far behind the iPhone to provide compelling social media hooks for mobile users?  What has been your experience with these applications?